Marie Schleiff, 66, president of the Friends of the Paragon Carousel, wore bunny ears as she greeted families lining up for their first ride of the carousel’s 86th season.

Her husband Bill, a “chief volunteer,” was climbing into his bunny costume Saturday morning for another year of egg hunts, photos and face painting.

“The only bad thing is when I put on my bunny suit, I don’t get to talk for four hours,” Bill said as he rehearsed bunny squeals for children lined up outside. “I feel like I’m in a monastery.”

Josephine Boles, 69, stood admiring the carousel with her grandchildren and daughter-in-law, Lisa Hennessey of Hull and her two children Addison, 3, and Teddy, 5. Hennessey said she operated the carousel as a 15-year-old over 22 summers ago while her brother and sister worked at the Arcade Dream Machine on Nantasket’s boardwalk.

“The first horse to ever be restored was restored when I worked here,” she said, pointing out the exact same brown-painted horse from her days at the carousel as it whizzed by her.

In a workshop adjacent to the carousel, where the upcoming museum exhibit, “A Magical Ride, A Nostalgic Visit to Old Paragon Park,” will open in May, stood James Hardison, the carousel’s “forensic analyst.” He was busy at work restoring the paint on one of the carousel’s horses, a job estimated to cost anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 per horse. Hardison said that the challenge is stripping the paint and finding the original colors to paint over the horse.

When Schleiff began volunteering in 2007, the carousel was facing bankruptcy and was on the verge of closing.

“This takes up all my time. After the dark years in 2008, the carousel has achieved some financial stability. We have an army of volunteers. We have loyal workers,” she said.

The Friends of the Paragon Carousel bought the “truly vintage” carousel for $1.1 million and decreased their debt to roughly $350,000 through a series of initiatives including the adopt-a-horse program. Two horses and one chariot are still awaiting adoption from a sponsor.

According to Schleiff, the Paragon Carousel was built in 1928 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company and remains one of only 19 vintage carousels operating in the world.

Schleiff recalled a woman who gave her a photo of her great grandson, Harold, explaining that he was “the fifth Harold to ride the carousel” in her family. Another woman who was 96 years old came back to ride the carousel one last time and died a month later, she said.

Four-year-old Molly Forde of Weymouth was excited about riding the carousel on opening weekend. “I like the horses,” she said. Caliegh Daley, also 4, of Braintree said: “It’s fun. I like going really fast.”

Page 2 of 2 - The Friends of the Paragon Carousel expect around 1,000-2,000 visitors this weekend and 100,000 for the upcoming season.